


Why Are You Hiding?

by Veresiine



Category: MapleStory
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-03 23:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16335092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veresiine/pseuds/Veresiine
Summary: Luminous isn’t cooperating with the Alliance, so Mercedes goes to visit him to talk some sense into him. Takes place after Heroes of Maple and before or at the beginning of the Black Mage update. I am not completely up to date on Maplestory lore, so there may be some inconsistencies.Not explicitly LumiMerc, but it could be read that way.





	Why Are You Hiding?

**Author's Note:**

> I am horrible at writing fluff, so I apologize in advance.

Mercedes scowled as she scanned the forest below her from Sylvidia’s back. While Luminous’s home wasn’t too far from Elluel, the fact that she was making this trip at all bothered her. Her people needed her, and she had her own training to worry about. But no, someone needed to tell Luminous to cooperate. Luminous wouldn’t listen to just anyone, and, apparently, she was the best choice of the heroes to do this. Aran was too busy repairing the damage to Rien, having Phantom and Luminous in the same place was generally a terrible idea, EunWol was too patient to have a chance of convincing him, and Evan needed all his attention on his training. The boy could bring them together and lead them, but he had a lot of growing up to do in a short time and a lot of work ahead of him. So it fell to Mercedes to convince Luminous to start showing up to the Alliance meetings.

She finally spotted what seemed to be a trail through the forest below, telling her that she must be getting close to Luminous’s house. The trail was barely visible from the air; it was worn down by feet alone over the course of years, not decades or centuries. Since she knew where Ellinia was, she decided to follow the trail in the direction away from it.

Mercedes hadn’t actually visited Luminous’s home before, but she had some idea what to expect from what Evan had told her. “It’s technically Lania’s home, I guess, Luminous just stays there.” “The cat can talk. And has wings!” “They have a huge plant growing through the home; I think you’d like it! F-from what I’ve seen of Elluel, at least.” “Oh and uh… don’t mind the robot. Apparently it’s always like that.” Mir had chimed in now and again with various relevant but unhelpful additions, which Mercedes had mostly tuned out.

“Mercedes, you keep sighing. What’s wrong?” Sylvidia asked, and Mercedes let some of the tension out of her shoulders as she turned her attention to the unicorn.

“I don’t want to do this. I shouldn’t  _ have _ to do this.”

“But isn’t it nice to fly together again without having to worry too much? And to go visit old friends? You’re always so busy and working so hard! And always rushing into danger…”

“Sylvidia, I don’t need to hear this from you.”

“But if not from me, then who? Your people are worried about –” Mercedes gritted her teeth. She was well aware of what her people thought, even if only Athena had been brazen enough to say it to her face. But that only meant that she needed to work harder, to prove she was strong enough to lead them and protect them all. And working harder meant  _ not _ going on errands like this one. But if it was for the sake of the Alliance and, by extension, the safety of her people…

“I’m not having this conversation. I’m already going to have one very difficult talk today, and I’m in no mood for another.”

“Okay, Mercedes, but I’m always here if –”

“Not now,” Mercedes snapped. “We’re almost there. I think I see a house in that clearing up ahead.”

“I see it too. Do you want me to drop you off and fly around until you need me, or do you want me to go in with you?”

“Sylvidia, I don’t know if you’d even fit through their door…” If she was even invited in, of course. But that hardly mattered.

“So does that mean you want me there?” Mercedes considered that for a moment. It certainly wouldn’t  _ hurt _ having the unicorn there. She had been on too many trips and adventures recently without her friend by her side, and felt that maybe she owed it to Sylvidia to bring her along this time.

“Sure. Let’s go.” Sylvidia nodded slightly, and started to descend as they approached the house. Mercedes carefully scanned the area, not wanting to be surprised by anything. She noticed a robot outside the door – probably the one Evan had warned her about – but she didn’t see any monsters or potential threats. Or Luminous or Lania, for that matter. *They had better not be out of the house today,* Mercedes thought, *if I came all the way out here for nothing, he’s going to have a very unpleasant surprise when I see him again!*

They landed several paces away from the front door. Mercedes dismounted, then walked up to the door with Sylvidia at her heel. She knocked loudly three times.

“Just a minute!” It definitely wasn’t Luminous who answered the door, though Mercedes wasn’t sure who did. She could hear quick footsteps approaching the door from the inside. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a girl Mercedes didn’t recognize but assumed to be Lania.

“Oh! Hi, welcome! Sorry, I thought you were another one of the agents who –” Agents? Mercedes wondered. “Anyway, come on in. You’re Mercedes, right?” Lania motioned for Mercedes to step inside.

“That’s right. And you’re Lania?” Mercedes stepped through the doorway and looked around the inside of the house. It was more or less as Evan had described it, though she didn’t see the chalkboard. It was probably stowed away somewhere.

“Yes, that’s me! I’m guessing you’re looking for Lumi? He’s not in right now, but he should be back in a few hours.”

“In a few hours,” Mercedes repeated, dropping her voice about half an octave from polite and cheerful greeting to ‘how dare he’. She glanced outside at Sylvidia, who was waiting patiently just outside the door.

“Well, maybe a little less. It all depends on the weather and how much luck he has with the fish. Can I get you anything to eat?”

“No, thank you.”

“Are you sure?” Lania asked, turning her head back around toward Mercedes. Then her eyes went wide. “… Is that a unicorn!?”

“Yes! May I come in?” Sylvidia stuck her head in the door. It looked like she would, in fact, fit inside if she chose to enter.

“Oh, um, sure! It’s always nice to have guests, after all! Lumi’s friends are always welcome here.”

“About that. Where is Luminous? It’s a pressing matter, and I’d rather not wait.” Mercedes had a mission, and she wanted to be done with this as soon as possible, even if Lania was pleasant. As she spoke, she moved off to the side slightly so Sylvidia could pass her.

“He should be fishing down by the river, or on his way back by now. And are you sure you can’t stay just for a little bit? I’d like to get to know you. Lumi talks about you a lot.” *He does, does he?* Mercedes caught the *look* Sylvidia was giving her, and motioned for silence.

“I am sorry, Lania, but this is important, and I have to get going. Sylvidia–”

“I’ll stay! I don’t really like being inside buildings, but this one seems nice, and Lania seems nice, too! Just come back and find me when you’re done talking with Luminous and ready to leave.” Sylvidia actually *winked* at Mercedes. *The nerve!* But she couldn’t take her indignation out on her friend, especially not in front of a young girl.

“Okay!” Lania seemed purposefully ignorant of the tension in the room. “We can go outside and chat if you want while Mercedes goes to find Lumi. Does that work?”

“Sure. Thank you, Lania. Sylvidia, I’ll see you shortly. I hope.” Mercedes turned and stalked out the door. Once she was far enough away that she could not longer hear Sylvidia and Lania talking, she took a few deep, calming breaths. In hindsight, she probably should have asked Lania where exactly Luminous would be, but she did remember seeing a river on the way over. Where along that river he was she had no idea, but she was sure she would find him eventually.  _ I can’t believe he’s going _ fishing  _ of all things! He could be training, or studying and researching, or helping Evan, or _ going to the damn meetings,  _ but he’s going fishing! _

She continued on through the woods in the direction she remembered the river being in. The quiet sounds of the forest life around her and the familiar, calming smells helped her cool off and get her thoughts together as she walked. There was no point in starting the conversation with too much anger. She would be direct, but she wouldn’t be immediately hostile.

Mercedes finally spotted Luminous up ahead, sitting along the riverbank. His weapon was off to the side, and he was holding a fishing pole instead. He seemed intently focused on what was in front of him. Mercedes wondered how close she should get before announcing herself if he didn’t notice her.

She didn’t have to decide, however, because once she was about ten paces away, he turned to face her. He looked almost pleasantly surprised.

“Mercedes? It is good to see you. What brings you out here?” As he spoke, she approached until she was at a comfortable speaking distance.

“I’ll be blunt. You haven’t attended the past three Alliance meetings.” Mercedes crossed her arms as she fixed Luminous with a stern look. He didn’t seem at all intimidated, even though she was standing and he was still sitting.

“They are not mandatory, you know.”

“Of course I know. But even Phantom has been attending them far more regularly than you have. How do you expect to be useful in the fight against the Black Mage if you won’t cooperate with others? What if you miss out on critical information?”

“I don’t see what’s so uncooperative about not showing up for meetings. Everyone knows I will be there for the battle. And as for information, Evan fills me in when he comes for lessons.”

“That’s no substitute for actually attending, and you know it. People are beginning to talk, you know.”

“I thought you were above caring about mere gossip.”

“There is gossip, and then there is  _ politically relevant _ discussion. We. Are.  _ Heroes _ . Like it or not, what we do affects more than just us.” Some may have accused Mercedes of taking her position for granted, but she was well aware of how much public opinion could influence both her power and the well-being of her people. So why couldn’t Luminous see it? “The people of the Maple World look up to us.  _ Especially _ after the World Tree incident. If people think that we aren’t even putting in the effort to keep current on events and contribute to the war effort and planning, if they can’t even trust their own Heroes to care enough to put in a bare minimum of effort – damn it, Luminous, at least show up once a month!”

“Why should I? The fou- five of you should be enough.”

“Because it’s less meaningful if we don’t  _ all  _ show up at some point, otherwise Freud and Evan gathering us up again would have been for nothing.”

“It was not for nothing. The Alliance has the Transcendence Stone now.”

“And it’s a valuable asset. But it is not the same as showing solidarity with the rest of the Heroes and the Maple World. And you haven’t yet given me a single reason why you aren’t going. So tell me. Why aren’t you showing up? And if it’s something stupid like 'boo hoo, I don’t want to deal with Phantom,’ then I swear –!” Mercedes broke off as she heard him mumble something that sounded a lot like 'Lania.’ “Say it again. Louder.”

“I don’t want to leave Lania here alone.” At least it was a reason, and less childish than she had been imagining, but something about the way he said it rubbed her the wrong way. The fact that he didn’t meet her eyes as he said it also made her slightly uneasy. It wasn’t like him at all.

“And I don’t want to leave my people in Elluel without my protection, either. But I can and do, and you have left her before. It’s just a few days a month.” Mercedes tried to keep her tone as civil as possible for once as she tried to process Luminous’ response and odd behavior.

“There were good reasons for my absences in the past.”

“And there  _ isn’t _ a good reason now? In spite of all I’ve explained to you in the past few minutes?”

“It would not be worth it to have me there.”

“Why not?” Was he not listening to her at all? Or was he just that dense? Would she have to physically drag him to the next Alliance meeting? Luminous wasn’t responding, but he did shift uncomfortably and still wasn’t meeting her eyes. “Okay, what are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anyt –”

“You’re a terrible liar. Just tell me exactly what’s so important that you’re being as unhelpful as possible.” Luminous glared at her, but it was full of as much hurt as anger. Mercedes didn’t flinch, and waited about a minute for him to reply.

“… I would rather not be around that…  _ thing _ … any more than I must.”

“What 'thing’?” Luminous just stared at her for a second as she realized what he was talking about. “Oh. The Transcendence Stone?” No reply, but she took that as acknowledgement. “I can see why that might be  _ unpleasant  _ for you, but that’s still no reason to act like this!”

“Yes, it is. There are many people in Ereve. Not many, of course,  _ know _ about what I am or where my powers come from, but all it would take is one person and –”

“Luminous. The stone is an extremely valuable asset. It’s not just lying around somewhere. I haven’t actually seen it in months. Neinheart has it under the best security available. No one should be able to just walk in there and use it, on you or anyone else. You’re being irrational.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. Odds are, even if you go to every meeting from here on out, you won’t see it again until we take the fight to the Black Mage.” Luminous scowled. “Okay. I don’t understand. You don’t like the stone or being around it. That makes sense, seeing what it did to you. But we’re almost certainly going to need it if we want to  _ win _ . Even you have to see that. And you had no problem facing nearly certain death along with the rest of us hundreds of years ago. But now you’re getting cold feet? Does the possibility of losing your powers really scare you more than death?”

“… No.”

“Then why are you acting like this?”

“Losing my power is not what frightens me. I do not want to – of course I don’t want to – but if that is a required sacrifice to stop the Black Mage once and for all, I will gladly make it.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“Losing  _ control _ .” Mercedes fought the urge to take a step back.

“I thought I heard that you had those… auguries, or whatever… so you could stay in control of your power?” Mercedes had heard stories about some of the things Luminous had gotten up to when he hadn’t yet figured out how to contain his new powers, and she didn’t like any of them.

“I do. And they are more than sufficient for what I need on a regular basis. I have mastered the curse the Black Mage placed upon me, and I am looking forward to using his own power against him. The Transcendence Stone, however, puts the balance I have found in jeopardy.”

“You seemed fine when you were around it before, though.” Luminous glared at her, and she huffed in irritation. “You know what I meant! You were  _ yourself _ , even if it hurt you.” And Mercedes was grateful for that. Luminous could be bothersome enough as himself, but also endearing in his own way. She didn’t want to face him when he was controlled by the darkness. She didn’t particularly want to have to shoot him down, nor did she want to see the enemy behind her friend’s eyes.

“And for that, we are fortunate. We may not be so fortunate in the future.”

“It shouldn’t come to that.”

“You don’t know that!” Luminous turned away from her to face the river. “I cannot take the risk. I can’t… risk hurting someone I love again.” He was mumbling by the end, but Mercedes could still make out what he was saying. She sighed, then sat down next to him and looked out at the river.

“But what’s worse? A vanishingly small chance that you might have an issue controlling your powers, or a greater chance that you miss out on critical information that could mean the difference between life and death?  _ And _ hurting the morale and cohesion of the entire Alliance?” Luminous didn’t reply. “You might think you’re protecting Lania, but I think you’re actually putting her in more danger in the long run.”

“Lania is not the only one I worry for.” Mercedes looked back over at him.

“Then that’s all the more reason to attend, to make sure we all have the best chance we have to finish this battle and keep  _ everyone _ safe.”

“But what if she is –” Luminous broke off.

“What if she is what?”

“What if she is on the front lines?” Luminous was mumbling again. Mercedes shook her head and sighed. Was he implying what she thought he was? She shook her head and smiled slightly.  


“Then I’m sure she knows the risks she’s taking and is confident she can protect herself, and would rather you be there for all of it.”


End file.
